Preparatory School Writer's Festival 2019 | Page 27

Guildford Grammar Preparatory School
Writing Festival
2019
The Sand by Belinda Yuen (continued)
“Yes, and Ryan, Andrew and Payton. And Jaxon and Adeline. All
your cousins are here but there’s so many I don’t remember their
names!” Mama joked and began laughing. “Guys, I’m going to look for Payton, okay?” Adeline tried to
say as innocently as possible. I glare at her. She knows that I get
nervous around Mae, speaking to her myself. “Luna! I was so worried about you!” Adeline nestled me and hid
me in her summer cardigan. Then she uncovered me, “You look
beautiful in that dress!”
Jordan’s already in the house and playing dinosaurs with Andrew
and Jaxon. Andrew and Jaxon are both Jordan’s age. “No, it’s okay, I will,” Mae quickly says. She starts walking away
but turns her head over her shoulder and adds, “You know why?
Pay-Mae rules!” I flushed. “Thank you.”
Andrew, Ryan, Mae and Payton are Uncle Josh and Auntie
Claire’s children and Jaxon and Adeline are Uncle Chris and
Auntie Camille’s children. Auntie Julia is also there with Chase
and Johnny.
I amble inside and see Mae laughing with Ryan and Adeline. I
slowly walk up to the group and whisper, “Hi.”
Adeline gasps and says, “Lu, you’ve grown so much!” She comes
up to me and gives me a massive hug. “I’ve missed you!”
“Here’s my favourite cousin, eh?” I blush as Mae speaks.
“Boring! Girl stuff reeks of… I don’t know… girl germs,” Ryan
snorts and I hear him say to Andrew, Jaxon and Jordan, “Hey,
can I play? You know that T-Rex’s can’t touch their nose with
their hands? They looked like this,” he sticks his arms near his
body and mades little Tyrannosaurus Rex claws and displays them
for the younger boys to see.
And that’s all she said that hurt me. A lot.
“Hey Lu? You oka-.” I started to zone out and ran up the stairs to
my room, sobbing. I slump onto my bed. Then, I stop. I realize I’m
crying for no reason. I wipe my tears off my tear-stained face.
I rip open my wardrobe and grab my red, white polka-dot
summer dress. I take a hasty shower, washing the seawater and
sand out of my hair. I rub the sand off my legs and arms, so I am
no longer sandy or smell like the sea. The shampoo overtakes my
natural scent and the aroma of orange cherry blossoms fill the
room.
“Let’s go! Your Mama is pretty concerned about you. We need to
tell her, with real proof, you, that you are alright.”
“Oh, I do still need to ask her something so it will be good use
anyways!”
“Excellent.”
I grab Adeline’s hand and race down the hallway.
“Mama!” I cry.
“Oh, Lu, darling,” she hugs me closely. Then she backs away and
starts, “What’s wrong? You just ran up the stairs like that. Are
you hurt?” Mama peers at me and looks for wounds, bruises or
scrapes.
I change into my dress and tie my hair into a loose ponytail. I
fasten a red ribbon around the start of the ponytail. I scavenge
for my board shorts in the washing basket and take the spoon
from the pocket. The spoon goes into the pocket of my dress. I shake my head and insert my question. I take the spoon out of
my pocket. “What’s this?” I flip the spoon over and over in my
hand to let her look.
I swing down the staircase and get to the bottom with a flourish. Mama seizes the spoon from my hand. “Where… did you find
this?” I see her eyes begin tearing up.
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